Currently, different types of mechanical pipe joints are used in the construction of pipelines carrying various fluids. These pipe joints, however, are susceptible to numerous failures for a number of reasons. Some prior art pipe joints, for example, use clamping devices such as bolts which contact a very small surface area on the exterior wall of the pipe. If the bolts are inadvertantly over-tightened, the bolts may penetrate or crack the wall of the pipe, thereby causing the pipe to leak. Alternatively, if the bolts are not strong enough, when the pipe joint is subjected to axial forces tending to pull the joint apart, the bolts will bend or break and the pipe joint will fail.
Other prior art pipe joints employ clamping devices designed to spread the clamping forced over a larger surface area of the pipe. While these pipe joints may succeed in distributing the clamping force over a larger surface area of the pipe, these devices make no provision for absorbing or graduating the effect of suddenly applied forces. A pipe joint can be subjected to massive forces occurring almost instantaneously. These forces may be the result of a rapid acceleration or deceleration of the rate of fluid flow through the pipe. For example, when a large valve on a high pressure water line is suddenly opened opened or closed, the axial forces resulting from the near-instantaneous acceleration or deceleration of the water in the pipe are almost instantly transmitted to the pipeline and subsequently the pipe joints. Prior art pipe joints subjected to these types of forces are subject to failure because such prior art mechanical pipe joints make no provision for absorbing or graduating these forces.